The prolific journey of African Americans in Portland is rooted in the courageous determination of black pioneers to begin anew in an unfamiliar and often hostile territory. Amazingly, a small population of African Americans settled in Portland against a backdrop of exclusion laws that banned free blacks from settling in Oregon. At the end of the 19th century, new employment opportunities in Portland and growing antiblack sentiments elsewhere spurred the growth of Portland's African American community. Approximately 75 African American men were hired at the Portland Hotel, and the completion of transcontinental rail lines brought African American railroad workers to Portland. By 1890, the majority of Oregon's black population resided in Multnomah County, and Portland became the center of a thriving black middle-class community. Fifty years later, the recruitment of defense workers increased the population of African Americans nearly tenfold. The war boom, coupled with the tragic Vanport flood, forever changed Portland's urban landscape and reshaped the socioeconomic realities of Portland's African American community.

Author: Oregon Black Pioneers, Kimberly Stowers Moreland
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
Published: 01/21/2013
Series: Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)
Pages: 128
Weight: 0.7lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.40w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9780738596198

About the Author
Oregon Black Pioneers: - Author Kimberly Stowers Moreland, on behalf of the Oregon Black Pioneers, brings a historical perspective of Portland s African American experience using images collected from the Oregon Historical Society, Portland State University, and private family collections.